Sucheta Kripalani

Sucheta Kriplani
Sucheta Kriplani
4th Chief Minister of Uttar Pradesh
In office 2 October 1963 – 13 March 1967
Preceded by	Chandra Bhanu Gupta
Succeeded by	Chandra Bhanu Gupta
Personal details
Born	25 June 1908 Ambala, Punjab, British India
Died	1 December 1974 (aged 66)
Political party	INC
Spouse(s)	Acharya Kriplani

Sucheta Kriplani (née Mazumdar, 25 June 1908 – 1 December 1974) was an Indian freedom fighter and politician. She was India's first woman Chief Minister, serving as the head of the Uttar Pradesh government from 1963 to 1967.

She was born in Ambala, Punjab (now in Haryana) to a Bengali Brahmo family. She studied at Indraprastha College and Panjab University before becoming a Professor of Constitutional History at Banaras Hindu University. In 1936, she married Acharya Kriplani, a prominent figure of the Indian National Congress, who was twenty years her senior. The marriage was opposed by both families, as well as by Gandhi himself, although he eventually relented.

Like her contemporaries Aruna Asaf Ali and Usha Mehta, she came to the forefront during the Quit India Movement. She later worked closely with Mahatma Gandhi during the Partition riots. She accompanied him to Noakhali in 1946. She was one of the few women who were elected to the Constituent Assembly and was part of the subcommittee that drafted the Indian Constitution. She became a part of the subcommittee that was handed over the task of laying down the charter for the constitution of India. On 14 August 1947 she sang Vande Mataram in the Independence Session of the Constituent Assembly, a few minutes before Nehru delivered his famous "Tryst with Destiny" speech. She was also the founder of All India Mahilla Congress, established in 1940.